Cod with Tomatoes & Lemon

Years ago, I bought my Husband a cool earthenware pot called a Tagine. It’s used in North African cooking and since we like Moroccan food, I thought it would be a great kitchen tool

The Tagine is conical in shape which allows the moisture that builds up in the neck of the pot to drip back down keeping your food moist

While the one I purchased is pretty cool looking, it isn’t big enough to cook for our family of four, so I generally use it for serving. A larger Tagine may show up on my Christmas list this year… 😉

That being said you can recreate this method of cooking with a dutch oven or even with a casserole dish and some tin foil which is what I’ve done here

Let’s prepare the lemon

Finely chop 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon, skin and all. Add to a small non stick pan along with 1/8 of a cup of water, a drizzle of olive oil and a teaspoon of sugar

Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the liquid is evaporated. Set aside

Add 1/4 of a teaspoon of saffron to 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Warm for 20 seconds in the microwave and set aside

Now let’s marinate the cod

Chop 1/4 cup each of fresh parsley and cilantro, slice up 2 garlic cloves & 1/4 cup of green olives and measure out 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

I cut 2 pounds of fresh cod into chunks and we’re ready to go

One of my favorite French sayings is “Mise en place” which means “everything in it’s place”

Cooking is so much easier when all of the components are prepped and ready to go. Maybe that’s why the French are culinary masters??

We’re going to marinate the cod for at least 30 minutes, so I’m going to add all of the ingredients to a gallon sized sealable baggie. A trick I learned long ago, probably from Martha Stewart (not in my kitchen… but if Martha was in my kitchen I’d probably pass out) is to place the baggie in a bowl when adding in ingredients so there are no spills. Small tip, but it avoids a messy cleanup if your bag decides to relax a bit too much

So now that we have all of this time on our hands, what do you want to do? Have a glass of wine by the fire? Ok. No need to twist my arm… cheers

Back to reality. Let’s finish this delicious dinner and get it on the table

Slice one onion and place into a casserole pan prepped with cooking spray

Seed and dice 2 large tomatoes and layer over the onions

Top the tomatoes and onions with the contents of the baggie. Spread the cod out over the veggies and tuck the thinner edges over so that all of the cod cooks evenly

Cover with foil and place in an oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees F

Check after 20 minutes. The fish is done when a fork can easily pierce through the thickest part